


Back to the Start

by kalteneckerstan



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Canon Compliant, F/M, Going back in time, Time Travel, first svtfoe fic!, maybe some angst later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-09 08:50:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13477941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalteneckerstan/pseuds/kalteneckerstan
Summary: What happens when you have nothing left? Nothing meaning literally no one around you, no sky above your head and not even a physical floor in front of you. Star for one, had to go back in time to fix it. Except she goes waaaaay back. Only time can tell what happens when knowing too much can change everything you thought you knew too much about.





	1. The Begining of the End

Star’s entire body shuddered as she took a deep breath and she felt her whole world collapsing.

In front of her was a portal. But not just any portal. It was violently purple and had deadly looking scars of lightning crackling menacingly along it. She didn’t know when it would take her, that’s right, when, but she knew it was her only chance.

She glanced back one last time but immediately regretted it. The world in front of her was destroyed and warped, with portals everywhere. There was not much solid ground anywhere and absolutely no life. She was the last one left in a barren Mewni. Her archenemy of recent, who went by Caramel, believe it or not, had just been vanquished by Star. The process however, had left hundreds of thousands of portals open everywhere. As a last-ditch effort, Caramel had created the portal that lay ahead of her, to attempt to go back in time and secure his victory, but had been destroyed by Star’s blast of pure magic.

She had recognized the portal’s nature the minute she saw it. It was the kind that she, as queen, had learnt about as one of her final lessons from Glossaryck, and was strictly prohibited in any dimension. The knowledge of time portals were only held by queens, in cases of dire emergencies. This definitely counted as one.

But of course, Caramel had created the portal in such a hurry that there was no guarantee of where it would lead to. How Caramel had even learnt how to make time portals was still a mystery, and suggested that the portal could be badly created and she might not make it through in one piece.

Star shut her eyes and for a moment, she saw her whole life flash in front of her eyes. At least, the life after she first walked on earth. There was meeting Marco, their adventures in so many dimensions, getting back together with Tom, breaking up with Tom again, defeating more and more villains, lots of other stuff, and at last, her freshest memory of yesterday. A picture formed in her mind, of Marco with his arms around her and a brown-haired girl with a playful smirk and a sun on each cheek who was just a little over 8. Star, in the same picture, held a blonde baby boy who was trying to bite her finger even though he didn’t have teeth. The picture faded from her mind’s eye although it felt like the emotions it held were left lingering.

Star had to do this, because if she succeeded, she might stand a shot at getting them back. Her husband, children, and the rest of Mewni were depending on her.

Star raised a foot and stood with her balance centered in a way that would keep her just about to enter the portal.

A wave of guilt crashed over her as one last time as she thought about how she could have prevented all this from happening. But she needed to be strong for the people she loved.

In a sudden act of bravery, she opened her eyes, not wanting to blindly walk into the past, but wished she hadn’t because the moment she stepped into the portal, they began to sting violently.

Nothing felt like going through a space-time portal. Everything around her seemed to be moving at the speed of light and menacing streaks of fiery red lightning raced past her. She heard quick whispers of conversation but when she focused on them, they seemed to dissipate. Her elbows kept getting knocked by objects she never seemed to see and her eyelids were forcefully pried open by the force of the portal. It was not an exaggeration to say it was the worst type of portal that existed, at least for the user.

After what seemed like too soon, Star felt like she was being yanked of a bullet train, but much faster, and thrown into the mud.

Except that it wasn’t mud, it was her old body.

A sudden wave of dizziness washed over her as she took in the room in front of her.

Bright lighting, cake, a loud band, cheering, dancing, cocoa, and most noticeably, a large banner with ‘Happy Quinceanera Star’ printed on it.

Caramel had been working on his schemes for about two years, but had probably had a brain fart when he was making the portal because he had sent her back a lot more than two years. Ten times that amount actually.

Fifteen year old Star was suddenly 20 years older.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop another starco fic! It's my first time writing a time travel fic, or actually any fic not related to Miraculous Ladybug (I lost those hehe), so I'm excited! I don't think I'm going to make this too long though, it might just end up draggy and like some mopey soap opera so I'll do my best to keep it in character. Anyway, if you actually read all the way until here, you deserve an award. Also, I hope you enjoy this totally amateur-and-I-know-it-shows starco fic!


	2. A slow start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Star has to deal with the shock that naturally comes after going back in time 20 years. But when her friends are around, nothing is impossible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok ok so for the best effect, play Turning Out by AJR when Marco enters. I was listening to it while writing that part and it was just. so. perfect.

Star blinked a heavy, slow blink, scrunching her eyes together and then opening them wide.

The ongoing party had been eventful enough for her change to go unnoticed. All she needed to do now was make sure nobody caught on, because the minute someone did, she would have altered the timeline. That would ultimately be impossible but there had to be a work around. She just needed time to think through her actions. There was definitely a way to work this out.

After the initial haze of the time travel had cleared up, she noticed that Tom was dancing in front of her. At first, her mind registered his presence as normal, as that of a family friend, before she realised that she had been taken into a time in which they hadn’t broken up yet. This was definitely going to be weird.

She made a motion to move past him, but he noticed and followed her with concern.

“Star? You ok?” He asked, giving her a worried expression.

Yet again, a waterfall of guilt cascaded down her as she thought about lying to her friend. Shaking those thoughts away, she steeled herself to reply.

“Yeah, yeah. I just feel kinda dizzy from all the lights. I think I’m gonna call it a night. It’s already one anyway, so I’m probably just sleepy?” It was more of a question than a statement and reeked of desperation to be believed.

Sighing, Tom placed a hand on her arm. “Alright, just let me know if you need anything.”

They may not have had the best relationship, but he did have a knack for being caring when it really counted.

“Thanks, Tom,” she said before giving him a grateful smile and making for the door.

The walk to her room seemed to take forever as all the thoughts in her head collided and seemed to erupt as they converged, giving her a massive earthquake-level headache.

It was all Star could do when she reached her bed and promptly flopped onto it head first. But before she could even decide on which part of her mountainous problem she should start with, there was a knock at her door.

“Star? You awake?” She recognised the voice as Marco’s.

She somehow thought she could handle him the same way she did with Tom, but when she turned to face him, she was proven thoroughly wrong.

The instant she looked at his silhouette in her doorway, a dam broke inside her. Hundreds of emotions swirled violently in her head. She suddenly felt hollow, like someone had ripped her heart out from her ribcage and thrown it back inside. Maybe it was the lingering effects of time travel? Doubtful. It felt like the room was covered in deep purple and orange hues and magical lights were everywhere — just like they had been for her yesterday.

Their eyes locked in the darkness for a moment, and she completely lost her breath. Completely, because she started choking.

“Woah, woah, woah” Marco started, hurrying over to her side.

Star beat her ribcage violently, her other palm on Marco’s shoulder, and managed to finally catch her breath.

“I’m ok, I’m ok. I just got a bit sleepy and came up here,” she said at last.

Satisfied with her recovery, Marco moved to a chair near her bed and sat down, and even though Star should have felt bothered by that, she found herself comforted by his presence. Because even if he wasn’t exactly the same as the Marco she had last seen, he was still Marco.

“So we’re both fifteen now huh,” he began, sounding as though he himself had just realised it.

Oh the irony.

“I guess. Feeling old yet?” Star carried on, deciding to carry on the irony train.

“Hmm,” he said after a short silence.

“Hmm?”

“I’m fifteen but it feels like I only really started living since last year. You know, since you got to earth?”

Star smiled in the dark at that.

“Well, I’ve been living wildly since I was born, but I only started savouring the best moments since sometime last year. Right about when I met you,” she replied.

She couldn’t see it, but she knew Marco was smiling with her.

After a comfortable silence, Marco started to get up, but Star had one last thing to run by him.

“Hang on a sec Marco,” she started, continuing after he sat back down. “Have you ever thought about time travel?”

Puzzled, Marco took a little longer to reply.

“Well… yes, but it gives me a headache every time I think about it.”

She wanted to reply with ‘absolutely, especially hen you’ve actually done it’, but went instead with “what do you think happens when somebody goes back in time and knows all about the future? I mean say I suddenly came from twenty years ahead and knew everything about our lives. Would you want me to tell you?”

She imagined Marco raising his eyebrows. He always did when he was taken aback.

“That’s an oddly specific example, but I think I would, just not yet. I mean, knowing you, there’s probably a reason for you doing something so severe. So I would let you fix up whatever issue warranted time travel and then maybe tell me, if you wanted to that is.” He said it with breaks, like he was picking his words carefully.

“Oh and also, if that really does happen to you,” a laugh. “Not too many specifics in the story please. I hate spoilers. But chances are we could probably work it out so that we don’t get affected by what the future will be like. I mean we are best friends.”

A smile had started melting onto Star’s face since he started, and her eyes felt slightly moist. Good thing it was dark.

“You’re right. We are best friends. And if a future me showed up, she’d say the same thing.”

Marco got of her chair and pulled her blanket around her a little more snugly before leaving for the night.

Suddenly, her whole thoughts seemed a lot lighter. Her headache had dissipated completely. There was definitely a way to deal with this. But she couldn’t do it alone. There was only one person who knew exactly what to do in emergencies like this since Glossaryck was still… not back to normal.

Tomorrow, she’d see her mother.


	3. Just Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now we'll be--- just friends  
> We will be--- just friends  
> And now we'll be--- just friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter be prepared!

Jolting out of bed sometime around mid morning was the last thing Star remembered doing before rushing to her mother’s quarters. She didn’t find her though.  
  
Racing through the hallways, Star opened random doors before reaching the last unopened door. The one for the magical high commission. At first, she stepped away from it, sure that she would be in serious trouble if she dared to open it.  
  
But then she remembered. The faces of all the people in her kingdom as they were sucked through portals. Her children being pulled away from her in the mess of things. Marco, a painfully desperate expression on his face, giving her one last kiss on the forehead before the floor underneath him fell, sucking him into the last normal portal.   
  
Her mother had been taken from her that day because of her own sacrifice. During the disastrous finale of their battle with Caramel, former Queen Moon had shielded Star with her last breath as Caramel shot her with blast after blast of lethal magic. Star remembered screaming for her with all her strength before rage overcame her and she cast her own lethal blasts of magic and unleashed a new kind of destruction.  
  
This could not wait.   
  
Before she could have second thoughts, one hand was knocking and the other twisting the knob. No turning back.  
  
She really wished she could though, because the moment she poked her head in, Queen Moon’s enraged face greeted her alongside the faces of the panicked looking faces of the magical high commission, who were still looking only at the each other across the table.  
  
“Star? What are you doing here?” Her mother demanded.  
  
“Mom, I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” The words rushed out before her mother could tell her off. “There’s this thing I really need to talk to you about and it’s really important hear me out-“  
  
“Really, Star! Interrupting a high commission meeting! Whatever it is, it can wait until after this is over.”  
  
Star couldn’t just give up like that.  
  
“Just listen to me Mom please?” was all she managed before the door shut.  
  
Before it opened again.  
  
Her mother’s face eyed her again, but this time, there was some concern in her expression.  
  
“Star, did you knock before entering? You never do that. Are you alright?”   
  
Star breathed a sigh of relief before constructing her words.  
  
“Actually, no. Can you meet me when the meeting’s over? We’ve got a really big problem.”   
  
Her mother’s expression softened slowly until Star said the last word, at which it morphed back into concern.  
  
“Alright, Star. I’ll be there as soon as I can. It’s just-“ she sighed before glancing back at Star. “Omnitraxus reported a serious breach somewhere. He just about started, but it seems severe.”  
  
“Thanks Mom.”   
  
For a second, they simply smiled at each other.  Then Star couldn’t contain herself anymore. She abruptly pulled her mother into a hug, but not a little kid hug. It was a ‘I really missed you and also really love you’ hug.  
  
“Oh!” Her mother exclaimed, but she retired the hug nonetheless. It wasn’t something they did often anyway.

* * *

  
After leaving the high commission meeting, Star decided that she should at least start preparing a vague idea of how much she should tell her mother — especially regarding the details like her death and Star’s marriage, but upon turning a corridor, she met with someone who would significantly change her plans.  
  
Tom stood facing her with a kind of sad smile on his face.   
  
“Tom!” She squeaked. “Uh, I mean hey Tom, you scared me!”   
  
“Star.” He said it with determination, and Star knew at once that he was going to be completely sincere when he spoke again.  
  
“I’m still not done missing you,” he said with a small chuckle, running his hand through his hair.  
  
She smiled at that, knowing that she should have spent more time with him, even as her younger self.  
  
“So… do you think we could have I don’t know, brunch? Together?”   
  
Star could feel her expression shifting but she didn’t know what it was shifting to. Of course she felt bad being with Tom when she knew her future lied with someone else, but Tom deserved an explanation if she was going to suddenly cut him out of her life.  
  
“Brunch date huh?” she heard herself say. “Didn’t see you as a brunch date type of guy, but sure thing. I’ve got something important to tell you anyway.”  
  
“Actually, me too. I was hoping I could get you alone one of these days,” he said, looking up at her soberly.   
  
Wait, what? Star didn’t remember Tom wanting to tell her anything important this close to the quinceanera in her version of the timeline. In fact, she didn’t even know if they had ever had a brunch date. She had already changed the timeline, obviously, but this was more sudden and dramatic than she had expected. Taking it in stride was the only option she had.  
  
“Yeah, ok. Yeah. I’ll see you…” she said.  
  
“In about half an hour? At the castle gates?”  
  
Remembering that she was still supposed to be fifteen, she tried change her demeanor at the last minute.   
  
“Woohoo! I can’t wait! I’ll definitely be there!”  
  
Tom smiled at her one last time and something seemed to have been confirmed in his mind by the resolute look in his eyes. He walked past her in the corridor and she looked back at him, not completely knowing how to feel.

* * *

  
Half an hour later, Star stood ready at the castle gates wearing what she hoped was passable for a fifteen year old girl going on a date.  
  
After agonizing over her appearance and then over her behaviour, she finally decided that she would simply be herself. If she tried too hard to behave like her younger self, she would not be genuine to Tom. Especially since she had decided to finally voice her concerns over their relationship after brunch.  
  
With all these thoughts sill lingering in her mind, she almost didn’t notice when a large deep red and black chariot with a flaming skeletal horse burned it’s way onto the ground in front of her.   
  
Tom stepped out in a sophisticated manner, gesturing to the inside of the carriage.  
  
“Welcome! To the most amazing brunch date you’ll ever had.” Star snickered a little. “Now, if the lady will please step inside, we shall travel across dimensions to reach the perfect place. Only the best for the princess of Mewni.”  
  
Mock curtsying, Star made her way into Tom’s unusually clean chariot.   
  
“Woah, Tom. I know you’re really romantic, but this is. Woah is what it is.” She said, looking around in wonder at the roses and soft lighting in the room that had extended from the chariot.   
  
“Well, Star, you’re important to me, so I like making the effort to be at my best.” He said, rearranging the pillows on his couch.  
  
Star swallowed at his words, trying to drown the ball of guilt in her throat and tried to change the topic quickly. Even though she was mentally older than him, and he had anger management issues, he still had a kind of slow emerging maturity that made him admirable.  
  
“So, where are we going?” She asked.  
  
“I think I’ve got just the right place. You’re going to love it!” He chirped, and a perky smile made its way onto his face. “Actually, we should just about be there now.”  
  
Right. Regular dimensional portals were much faster than spacetime portals.  
  
He opened the carriage door and steps magically unfolded in front of her as he gestured for her to step out.   
  
When she did, a smile overcame her. Even from her memories of the future, she remembered this place. A beautiful beach with a single round white table and two chairs on the sand. The sea water shimmered a mesmerisingly and there was a continuous soft breeze that made wisps of her hair float. It was indeed the perfect place for brunch. Not very fancy, and not unromantic. However, she remembered this place for the significance it had to her. It was the place where she and Tom broke up.  
  
Star felt her eyelids lower in acceptance of the situation. Sure, it was happening earlier in the timeline than it was supposed to, but it had to happen all the same.  
  
“It’s beautiful,” she heard herself say.  
  
Tom smiled the same sad smile he had given her earlier and nodded over at the table. They both walked over to it together, he pulled her chair out for her to sit and she did.  
  
“So, what would you like?” He asked, when he was settled himself.  
  
Star remembered what she had ordered as her younger self and decided to go with the same thing.  
  
“Blueberry pancakes with tons of syrup and extra blueberries!”   
  
The moment she finished saying the order, the dish magically appeared on the table in front of her. She probably should have been surprised, but the memory of this day had been played over and over in her mind so often that she had known to expect it to happen.  
  
“Hmm, good choice.” Tom remarked before ordering his own “extra spicy bacon sandwich”.  
  
They ate in comfortable silence for a while, and when they finished, Star spent a minute looking over at the sparking sea.  
  
“Tom-“  
  
“Star-“  
  
They both started, turning to look at each other a little taken aback.  
  
“I need to tell you something,” they chorused.   
  
Star had a little mental argument with herself over what to do. In her version of events, he had been the one to broach the topic of breaking up. Fifteen year old Star could probably whine about wanting to go first and get her way. She was known to be stubborn. But older Star would definitely let Tom speak first. Unable to decide, she pulled out the single shiny Earth coin she carried in her purse and placed it carefully on the joint of her index finger, her thumb in her fist before flicking it.  
  
“Call it,” she said, watching the coin in the air.  
  
“Heads.”  
  
She caught the coin squarely in her palm, revealing the profile of George Washington. She turned to give Tom what she hoped was an encouraging smile. After all, he looked a bit nervous now, and just a little pale.  
  
“Star. We’ve got to talk about us,” he started.  
  
“Yeah. Yep. I was going to say the same thing,” she replied.  
  
“So. I’d be lying if I said that we didn’t have the most amazing relationship ever. I mean, Star, you’re crazy fun and I don’t think I could have battled as many monsters or travelled across as many dimensions as I did if I didn’t meet you and I loved spending time with you even if we weren’t doing anything remotely dangerous or daring. But recently, I don’t know…” he paused to scratch his neck.   
  
Star nodded encouragingly.   
  
“I just think that maybe… we may not be meant for each other. Like, I enjoy your friendship - don’t get me wrong, but maybe we were trying too hard when we got back together, and I know you still like Marco-“ Star’s eyes widened. “-So maybe we should step back and  be… just friends?”  
  
A moment passed in silence.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Tom’s eyes snapped back up from the ground to her face when she said it.  
  
“You’re right Tom. I’ve been thinking about it recently too.” Younger Star hadn’t been thinking about it at all until this day but older Star on the other hand, had spent too much time across every timeline thinking about it.   
  
“I remember when I saw you at the Silver Bell Ball, I missed you, but maybe not in the way I thought I did. And you know what, now that you mentioned it, I think I may not have completely gotten over Marco either. I-It’s not fair to you if I’m dating you when I’m still hung up over someone else, and I’m sorry about that Tom, I really am.” She felt her own posture drooping at her realisation.  
  
“It’s ok Star,” he said, placing an arm on her shoulder. “Stuff like this can be confusing, I would know.”  
  
When she refused to look up, he moved his hand from the top of her shoulder to her side.  
  
“Last non-platonic hug?” He asked with a small smile.  
  
Star nodded and raised her arms around him. Her head was buried into his jacket and she could smell the burnt scent of the underworld on him. She was going to miss it. In the moment, she could only think that Tom deserved so much better. A small sob escaped her and she felt him tighten his grip a little. Soon, they were both pulling away, and she wiped her tears away in a single motion.   
  
“We’re going to stay as friends right?” She asked at last.  
  
He tilted his head to the side. “You know we are.”   
  
Small smiles were exchanged before Tom gestured to his carriage.  
  
“Wanna take the chariot of doom back?” He joked.  
  
“Nah, you go ahead. I think I’m going to stay here for while.”  
  
“Ok then,” they looked at each other somewhat awkwardly. “I’ll see you around, Star.”  
  
“See you around, Tom.”  
  
And with that, he headed back towards his chariot and was gone in seconds.  
  
Star turned from the portal he had just closed and faced the crystal clear sea. The breeze had grown slightly and it was the perfect weather for a long walk. She kicked her sandals back near the table and started down the coastline.  
  
In her previous attempt at the break up, it had been nowhere close to how smooth as it had been this time. That being said, it hadn’t been any easier. Both times, she had felt very emotionally drained when it was over. The first time because of anger and confusion of what Tom was insinuating about her and Marco and the second time because of the absoluteness and resignation of the whole concept. No matter how many times she would repeat the timeline, the same event would always happen and she would always choose Marco.   
  
When it had happened the first time, however, it had been nowhere near as complete and decided. She had left in an angry storm through a random portal she had created using borrowed dimensional scissors, and it had taken a lot of years and angry parents to patch things up between them. It made her a little happy knowing that at least this time around, they could enjoy a longer friendship and a shorter dysfunctional relationship.   
  
Star stopped in her tracks when she reached a large rock at the edge of the shore. She had never gotten the chance to savour this beautiful place in the past because of the messiness that had ensued after the break up, but this time she was going to come here more often. After all, it signified the start of a friendship.  
  
She took a moment to inhale the salty smelling air and feel the wind whipping around her face before crossing her legs and sitting down to face the morning sun.  
  
It really was perfect.


End file.
